Reservoir for gasolene and other vapor burners.



PATENTED JAN. 23, 1906.

W. M. FULTON & W. H. RICHARDS. RESERVOIR FOR GASOLENE AND OTHER VAPORBURNERS.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.2 0, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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.9 I 2 "Filo 4 22 223 H T 26 f8 j 7 A9 l3 2-0 M ammw I No. 810,403.PATENTED JAN. 23, 1906. W. M. FULTON & W. H. RICHARDS. RESERVOIR FORGASOLENE AND OTHER VAPOR BURNERS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 20. 1905.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

UNITED STATES ATENT I OFFICE.

WESTON M. FULTON AND WILLIAM H. RICHARDS, OF KNOXVILLE,

'ITENNESSEE, ASSIGNORS TO THE FULTON COMPANY, OF KNOX- VILLE, TENNESSEE,A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

RESERVOIR FOR GASOLENE AND OTHER VAPOR BURNERS- Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented J an. 23, 1906.

Application filed February 20, 1905. Serial No. 246,561.

To 1!. whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, WESTON M. FULTON and WILLIAM H. RICHARDS, ofKnoxville, Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Reservoir forGasolene and other Vapor Burners, which invention is fully set forth inthe following specification.

This invention relates to reservoirs for delivering liquid underpressure, and more particularly to such reservoirs as are used inconnection with oil and vapor burners which require the fuel to besupplied under more or less pressure. In the usual form of suchreservoirs the desired pressure for forcing the oil out of the reservoirto the burner is obtained by compressing air above the surface of thevolatile liquid by means of an air-compressor, such as a pump orair-bulb. The use of air to create a pressure over volatile liquids,such as gasolene, results in producing an explosive mixture within thereservoir consisting of hydrocarbon vapor and oxygen of the air. Thisexplosive gaseous mixture increases as the gasolene is expelled from thereservoir until it finally fills the entire space and is then under moreor less pressure. When these conditions prevail, careless manipulationin refilling in the vicinity of a flame not infrequently results inserious acci dent-s. A further objection to the use of airpressureresides in the difficulty of securing air-tight joints, whereby thepressure may be maintained without frequent renewal.

It is the purpose of this invention to avoid the use of air in contactwith the volatile fluid in expelling the fluid from the reservoir,thereby preventing the formation of any explosive vapors in thereservoir and reducing accidents which accompany the use of gasolcne andlike fluids to a minimum.

To effect this result and accomplish the ob jects of this invention, thereservoir is constructed of "such material as sheet metal and is rovidedwith collapsible-sides and a movable end wall, or with rigid side walls,a rigid end wall, and the opposite end closed by a collapsible vessel,preferably made of corrugated sheet metal and'arranged to telescopewithin the rigid side walls of the reservoir. Inlet and outlet conduitsare located in the rigid walls for reception and delivery of the liquidfuel, and means, such as a spring, screw-actuated, for extending andcollapsing the vessel are provided, whereby the liquid may be expelledand the vessel filled as desired. An indicator is also preferablyprovided which enables the operator to determine the quantity of fluidin the reservoir.

To enable a better understanding of this invention, certain mechanicalexpressions of the same are shown in the accompanying drawings; whichare designed merely as illustrations to assist the description of theinvention and not as defining the limits thereof.

Figure 1 is a vertical central section of the reservoir. Fig. 2 is anend elevation of the same, and Fig. 3 is a view of a modification.

In Fig. 1, 1 indicates a reservoir having rigid side walls 2 and an endwall 3. At the opposite end of the vessel is a closure 4, which isadapted to support a collapsible vessel 5 and its actuating means 6.Through the rigid wall 2 extends an exit-pipe 7, having its inlet 8located near the bottom of the vessel. tending through the top ofthevessel to the bottom, it might be fitted to the lower part of thevessel. An oil-inlet for filling the vessel is indicated at 9. Theoil-exit pipe 7 communicates with any suitable vapor-burner, such asillustrated at 10.

The closure 4 is preferably provided with a fiat portion or flange 11,to which is secured by soldering or welding one end of the collapsiblevessel 5. This collapsible vessel 5 s provided with a rigid endwall 12,which 1s reinforced by a plate 13, carrying a tube 14 fast thereto.Within this tube is a-spring 15, which serves to ive a yielding pressureto the end wall 12 wIien the spring is )lac'ed under compression.Passing throng the closure 4 and extending through the ax s of the tubeis a left-hand screw-threaded rod 16, having at one end a plate 17. Thisthreaded rod extends through the closure 4 and is provided with any sutable handle, such as 18, for turning it. Onthis rod is a nut 19,provided with projections 20, which enter slots 21 cut in the side andnear one end of the tube 14. A plate22 is made fast to the closure 4 forthe purpose of strengthening this portion Although this pipe is shown asexof the same nearthebearing end of the rod 16. At one side of the tubecontaining the spring and connecting-rod is a small cylinder 23, fast atone end to the plate 13 andprovided w th oppositely-disposed sp ralgrooves. Within this tube or cylinder is a small spindle 24, carrying atone end a pin 25, which engages the slotsin the tube. This spindle 24extends through the closure 4 and is provided with a hand 26-, which,together with a dial 27, graduated to indicate the capacity of thevessel, indicates the quantity of fluid within the reservoir.

The collapsible vessel 5 is preferably made of corrugated sheet metaland is of the character described in the application of Weston M.Fulton, Serial. No. 217,287, filed July 19, 1904, one of the applicantsherein. This collapsible vessel is of such a size as to completely fillthe space to be occupied by the fluid which is to be expelled. Inextendin this vessel to expel the liquid there woul be more or lessdanger of spreading the corrugations beyond the limit of elasticity, andto avoid this the plate 17 is placed on the rod 16 to limit the traverseof the nut 20 when the collapsible vessel is expanded to its farthestlimit and, on the otherhand, to prevent the vessel from being collapsedtoo much. The nut 20 in moving on the rod 16 meets the end wall 4, andthus prevents further movement of the wall 12 of the collapsible vessel.In order to secure these results, the length of the rod 16 is roperlyproportioned to the lengths of the col lapsible vessel.

Having thus described the mechanical construction, its operation is asfollows: Before filling the vessel with fluid the vessel 5 is collapsedby revolving the threaded rod 16 to the left, thereby causing the nut 20to travel to the right, carr ing with it the tube 14 and the rigid endwal 12 pf the collapsible vessel. At the same time the movement of thewall 12 to the right causes the pin 25 to rotate the spindle 24 of theindex-hand 26 to the positron of full. The space left vacant in thereservoir 1 can now be filled with any suitable fluid through the inlet9 to displace all the air in the reservoir. When thus filled withliquid, the cap of the inlet is screwed on, and the handle 18 of thethreaded rod 16 is turned to the right, thereby forcing the nut 20against the sprin 15 to place the latter under compression, t ierebycausing the rigid end wall 12 of the collapsible vessel to press u onthe fluid contained in the reservoir.

en thus laced under p essure, the oil will be forced t rough-the pipe 7to the vaporburner whenever the valve 28 in the latter is opened. Thispressure will continue as lon as spring remains compressed. In ad itionto the pressure of the s ring 15 the elasticit of thewalls of the colapsible vessel itsel serves to assist in expelling the liquid. When thespring-pressure is exhausted by the removal of oil and the collapsiblevessel has expanded to fill the space left vacant, the oil may be againplaced under pressure by again forcing the nut along the threaded rod16, renewing the tension of the spring.

Just before the end wall 12 of the colla sible vessel reaches the pipe 7the nut 20 wil have reached theplate 17, and thereby prevent any furtherextension of the walls of the vessel.

To refill the vessel, all that is necessary is to return the collapsiblevessel to its initial position by revolving rod 16. At any time duringthis operation the quantity of oil in the reservoir can be determined bythe operator by noting the position of the hand 26 as itmoves along thedial 27.

It will be seen from the construction and operation of this device thatno air is permitted within the reservoir 1 which would cause theproduction of ex losive vapors. Also there is wholly avoide anynecessity for careful acking, because the joints of the vessel are a 1gas and liquid tight as the result of the soldering or welding of theseveral parts together.

Although we have described as one means of collapsing and expanding thevessel a screw and spring for creating the necessary pressure, yet othermeans may be employed to cause the extension of the vessel and theproduction of pressure-as, for example, the collapsible vessel might beactuated by the introduction of air under pressure. Such air, however,would be entirely excluded from access to the reservoir because of thesepa- 5 rating-walls of the colla sible vessel. This form of vessel isespecially useful in connection with gasolene blast-lamps, fireots,torches, and the like, where a very vo atile fluid, such as gasolene, isused .and where a pressure is to be continued for considerable time, asin the present construction there is no danger of leaky valves, as 'inthe case where a pump is used to force air above the surface of theliquid to create pressure.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 3 the fluid is placed within thecollapsible vessel5 The means for collapsing and expanding the vesselmay be and preferably are the same as described in connection withFig. 1. The outer casing 29 serves to protect the corrugated vessel frominjury, the end walls of which serve both to close end 30 of thecollapsible vessel and to support the opposite end with the devicesconnected therewith.

In order to provide for the introduction of fluid into the collapsiblereservoir and also for the exit of the same, the end of the vessel suchas benzin, in. the reservoir, thereby avoiding the presence of explosivemixtures therein. The pressure in the'reservoir is under ready controland can be rapidly applied by manipulation of the pressure device, adecided advantage over the slowly-operating pneumatic-pressure devicesnow in use. The corrugations of the collapsible vessel are by reason ofthe fixed limitations of the traverse placed on the vessel by theoperating rod free from danger of exceeding the limit of their elasticitthereby protecting the collapsible vesse from harmful strains andextending its life indefinitely.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. A reservoirhaving rigid side walls and a rigid end wall, a collapsible andexpansible vessel closing the opposite end of said reservoir and movable'wlthin the latter, a rigid sup porting-plate fast to the end of thereservoir, a threaded rod, one end having a bearing in' said plate andprovidedwit'h a nut traveling along said rod, and a member fast to thecollapsible vessel and engaging said nut, whereby the rotation of saidrod causes the said vessel to collapse or expand.

2. A reservoir having rigid side walls and a rigid end wall, acollapsible and expansible vessel closing the opposite end of saidreservoir and movable within the latter a screwthreaded rod andsupporting means for the outer end of the same, a nut on said r9dengaging a member on said collapsible vessel, and a shoulder or endplate on said rod to limit the outward traverse of said vessel.

3. A reservoir having rigid side wallsand a rigid end wall, a'collapsible and expansible vessel closing the opposite end of said reservoir and movable within the latter, a screwthreaded rod, and supporting.means for the outer end of the same, a nut on said rod, and a memberconnecting the nut with said vessel, and a spring intermediate said nutand vessel for placing the liquid in the reservoir under pressure.

4. A reservoir having rigid side walls and a rigid end wall, acollapsible and expansible vessel closing the opposite end of saidreservoir movable within the latter and having a rigid end wall, ascrew-threaded rod and suppoiting means for the outer end of the same, anut on said rod, and a member connecting the nut with the end wall ofsaid vesse a spring intermediate said nut and wall, and aspirally-slotted tube fast to the latter and engaging a registeringdevice.

5. A reservoir having a colla sible and expansible closure fordisplacing uid from the same, a revoluble screw-threaded operatingrodprovided with a traveling nut, a fluidcompression spring one end ofwhich rests against said closure and the other end a ainst said nut, aslotted member fast to said 0 osure and engaging said nut to restrainthe same from rotation, and to limit the extent of compression of saidspring upon said fluid.

In testimony whereof we have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

WESTON M. FULTON. WILLIAM H. RICHARDS.

Witnesses:

W. B. FORD, F. M. DE ARMANI),

